Raw airs tonight (Feb. 23) with a live show from State Farm Arena in Atlanta, Georgia. This is the final episode of Raw during the four week build to Elimination Chamber, which takes place on Saturday (Feb. 28).
AJ Styles is back in WWE to do this the right way
AJ Styles’ WWE career came to an abrupt end last month at Royal Rumble when he lost against GUNTHER. Even though AJ made it clear that he was planning to retire in 2026, plenty of fans didn’t expect it to happen so soon in the year, and with such little build between him and GUNTHER. The match
happened in Saudi Arabia, and AJ didn’t get a proper send off afterwards.
That changes tonight when he appears on Raw in a place that’s closer to home, where fans and colleagues alike will pay tribute to AJ’s phenomenal career. It sounds like stars from SmackDown will also be in the building to say thank you and goodbye to Styles.
That’s all well and good, but keep in mind this is a pro wrestling show, and WWE is on the road to WrestleMania. That means there’s definitely a chance that an angle is brewing, even if it isn’t necessarily for AJ’s return to the ring. GUNTHER doesn’t have much going on right now aside from swatting at the annoying Dragon Lee whenever he gets in his face. I think the Ring General would love to interrupt the Styles’ tribute to make it all about himself and how he’s the one who killed AJ’s career. If AJ happens to be wearing a salmon jacket if/when GUNTHER shows up, then I think we’ll all know why he defiantly chose to put his gloves back on after he lost at the Rumble.
Tune into Raw to see what WWE has planned for a special tribute to AJ Styles, and if GUNTHER will try to ruin the whole thing.
The rest of the card
There is one spot left in the women’s Elimination Chamber match, and it will go to the winner of tonight’s triple threat match between WWE Women’s Tag Team Champion IYO SKY, Kairi Sane, and Raquel Rodriguez. A win for Kairi would be a shocker given she’s mostly on Raw to be bullied by Asuka rather than win singles matches. Can IYO join her partner Rhea Ripley inside the chamber to potentially set up another memorable clash between them? Will Nia Jax and Lash Legend show up from SmackDown to screw over the women’s tag champ ahead of their title match later this week?
The final men’s Elimination Chamber qualifying match also takes place tonight, and it features World Tag Team Champion Jey Uso vs. Bronson Reed vs. El Grande Americano Original. LA Knight actually wants Bronson to win so that he can whoop his ass inside the chamber. Does Uso have one more world title chase in him on the road to WrestleMania? Will the current El Grande Americano get involved to make sure the original El Grande goes back home to Mexico as a loser?
Royal Rumble winner Liv Morgan finally makes her WrestleMania decision on tonight’s show, and WWE Women’s Champion Jade Cargill is in the house in her hometown to witness it. I can’t imagine that WWE is actually planning to do Morgan vs. Cargill at WrestleMania, which means The Judgment Day probably has a target on the back of Women’s World Champion Stephanie Vaquer.
Brock Lesnar returns to WWE on tonight’s episode of Raw. Could he be here to lend Paul Heyman and The Vision a helping hand now that Bron Breakker is out injured? That help could potentially include taking out LA Knight, who eliminated Brock from the Royal Rumble. If Heyman is up to his old tricks, perhaps he’ll even find a way for Brock to replace Bronson in the Elimination Chamber qualifier. Then again, maybe Brock isn’t on Raw to help Heyman, and he’s actually more interested in setting up a WrestleMania 42 match with “The Ruler” Oba Femi.
Finally, Maxxine Dupri vs. Nattie is scheduled for tonight. Nattie tried to injure Dupri in their match earlier this month, leading to a double count out. Will Nattie finish the job and decimate Maxxine in the rematch, or is it already time for Natalya to elevate the babyface?
Other stuff to keep an eye on
– World Heavyweight Champion CM Punk vs. Roman Reigns is supposed to be the main event of WrestleMania 42, but Raw GM Adam Pearce is worried that Finn Balor may ruin that plan if he beats CM for the gold at Elimination Chamber. Balor wants to prove he doesn’t need anybody’s help to be the top star on Raw, so he held back his stablemates Dominik Mysterio and JD McDonagh from attacking Punk last week. Has Finn changed his tune about that strategy tonight?
– Penta is on a collision course with Intercontinental Champion Dominik Mysterio after winning last week’s number one contender’s match. Could WWE potentially merge two storylines together tonight by booking a tag team match of Punk & Penta vs. Balor & Dirty Dom?
– AJ Lee is challenging Women’s Intercontinental Champion Becky Lynch for the title at Elimination Chamber. Lee tried to take a more serious approach with Lynch last week, but The Man was ultimately too much of a coward to get in the ring for a fight. Who will get the last laugh and stand tall over the other on tonight’s go home show?
– The mystery masked man is still driving The Vision nuts with ambushes at the worst times. Does YouTube douchebag Logan Paul have a plan for trying to catch and unmask the mystery man tonight?
– Who is inside the mystery crate that keeps getting shipped back and forth between Raw and SmackDown? I don’t see any air holes in the wood, so maybe the more appropriate question to ask is what’s inside the crate? We aren’t supposed to find out until Elimination Chamber, but is anything really stopping someone very large like Brock Lesnar from smashing open the crate tonight?
– What does Je’Von Evans have to say after pulling off the upset over GUNTHER and Dirty Dom last week en route to qualifying for the men’s Elimination Chamber match?
– Is Pat McAfee so busy becoming the next Sylvester Stallone that he doesn’t have time to take Corey Graves’ job away again?
– Will any changes have to be made to this show due to winter weather issues?
– Where the f*** is Omos?
What will you be looking for on Raw?
